Q&Q review of Nieve

Robert Wiersma reviews the new dark fantasy YA novel by Terry Griggs in this month's Q&Q:

Terry Griggs’ genuinely creepy new YA novel will thrill young readers while giving their parents nightmares.
Reminiscent of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and Michael Ende’s Momo, the story follows feisty, independent Nieve, whose parents are freelance weepers ... Nieve possesses a ceaseless flow of dangers and perils, and yet Griggs accomplishes this headlong narrative drive without sacrificing character development or emotional complexity. It’s a tremendously visual and visceral novel, with bodies aplenty (including those of babies) and human beings transformed into various household items (a chair, for example, provides a crucial clue to what’s going on).
Over the course of the novel, Griggs develops a thorough and compelling mythos, one both original and drawn from traditional lore, while also creating a realistic and immersive world. Given that Nieve is the first novel in a projected trilogy, this is crucial. Readers will want, desperately, to return to Nieve’s world, and the sooner, the better.

For the full review, go pick up a copy of April's Q&Q!

First Review of Terry Griggs' Nieve

from VOYA:

Nieve's parents' business has improved, but Nieve is worried. Her parents are professional sympathizers, and although Nieve appreciates the new clothes and treats, she is worried by the increasing need for her parents' services. The world is becoming darker. Strange plants are appearing, spiders and bats are becoming more plentiful, and people are more forgetful and fractious. As Nieve begins to discover the truth, she is drawn into a world of old myths and magic.

Although complete in itself, this debut in a trilogy sets up an interesting meta-narrative to be resolved in future volumes. As the story progresses, the tone gets progressively darker, ending on a hopeful but guarded note. The tone is more than amply supported by the illustratuions, which reference both Tim Burton and Edward Gorey. Part allegory, part Irish folk tale, the novel succeeds in dropping the reader into a world both familiar and slightly off kilter. Readers looking for good fantasy will enjoy the novel on its own, but readers with a passing familiarity with the darker denizens of Irish mythology will find much to enjoy.

-- Steven Kral